7.6 / 10

If you ever feel a twinge of sadness while recollecting the beauty of a young love, or the trauma of a foolish heartbreak, then you and Eros and the Eschaton may have something in common. Their debut album, Home Address for Civil War, is a tender, hazy dream full of nostalgic emotion. This North Carolina Duo consists of Kate Perdoni and Adam Hawkins. In addition to producing this stellar debut, they have also been working on the side project of raising their son. The fact that the two members of this project are a couple shouldn’t surprising after listening to Home Address for Civil War. It packs an emotional integrity that just can’t be matched.

Synths and organ drones float in and out of the airy, soft vocals without much effort or urgency, turning these songs into a sweet sounding liquid. As a result, the vocals on the “Carry the Water” and “Don’t Look So Sad” fade quietly into the background. Even when they use heavily distorted guitars instead of organs, the lead instrument consistently drowns every other sound. This major problem is overcome somewhat on the two liveliest and most youthful tracks, “Lately (I’ve Been Wondering)” and “Terrance Mckenna.” These songs, right in the middle of the album, are the easy highpoint for me. Not only in energy, but also in song writing, they remind me of other sunny psychedelic pop acts like the Beach boys or even MGMT.

Since the vocals lack a significant presence in most of these songs, the percussion instead takes the weight of moving the music forwards. It is impactful, but not enough to break the mood, and it varies noticeably from song to song. I particularly love its relentless barrage in the blistering shoe gaze style track “Shadow Forth!” and its punchy delivery in the joyful stomp that is “Terrance Mckenna.”

Unfortunately, they close out this short day dream of an album with its two longest and most monotonous songs. Other than that, Home Address for Civil War feels nice and tight, especially for a shoe gaze influenced dream pop album. The songs are all heavily atmospheric, and the lyrics are pretty catchy, if you can actually discern what they are saying through the smoke of distorted guitars and keys. Because of all this, I found Home Address for Civil War a light, fun, and appealing listen, and I would keep my ears open for these guys in the future.